{"id":178779,"date":"2014-11-04T04:00:06","date_gmt":"2014-11-04T11:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/getrichslowly.org\/blog\/?p=178779"},"modified":"2019-12-04T23:18:41","modified_gmt":"2019-12-05T07:18:41","slug":"is-living-without-credit-cards-the-best-way-to-stay-out-of-debt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getrichslowly.org\/is-living-without-credit-cards-the-best-way-to-stay-out-of-debt\/","title":{"rendered":"Is living without credit cards the best way to stay out of debt?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Americans might be more responsible now than they were in the early 2000s when it comes to the use of credit. At least, that’s what the evidence from a Gallup poll taken earlier this year seems to suggest.<\/p>\n
The Gallup poll, which was based on random telephone interviews with 1,026 adults, shows that a full 48 percent claim to pay their credit card balances in full when the bill comes due. Not surprisingly, the opposite group, those who carried a balance each month, came in at a record low percentage since Gallup began recording this metric in 2001.<\/p>\n
But the poll went further to reveal more about the secret lives of credit card users in the United States, and how the use of credit affected overall debt levels. For example, it showed that the average American carries 2.6 credit cards on average, but the figure jumps to 3.7 when you remove those who don’t carry a credit card at all from the equation. Furthermore, the average American carried $2,426 in credit card debt when this poll was taken. However, exclude those without a credit card and the figure quickly jumps to $3,573. So, what does this mean?<\/p>\n
“Americans are less reliant on credit cards than in the past. They are carrying less credit card debt overall, own fewer cards, and are more likely now to say they always or usually pay their full balances every month,” Gallup summarized earlier this year<\/a>.<\/p>\n “This suggests that credit cards — a staple of American consumer life for decades — might not be as vital a financial tool to individuals as they had been in the 1990s and 2000s, when Americans often used their credit cards to make ends meet.”<\/p>\n That’s a good thing, right?<\/p>\n Many experts would say yes.<\/p>\n Is the Gallup poll really telling us that Americans are on their best behavior when it comes to the use of credit? Say it isn’t so.<\/p>\n<\/span>Are Americans on Their Best Behavior Since the Great Recession?<\/span><\/h2>\n